Vol.59/No.17           May 1, 1995 
 
 
25 And 50 Years Ago  
 
May 5, 1970
In a very dramatic move last week, the U.S. government dropped the charges of draft evasion against Edwin Feliciano Grafals, an activist in the Puerto Rican Federacion Universitaria Pro-Indepen-dencia (FUPI), an organization of university students fighting for Puerto Rican independence.

It was Feliciano's conviction and sentencing to a one-year prison term on Sept. 26, 1969, that touched off a new stage in the protracted struggle against ROTC at the University of Puerto Rico.

The government's decision to drop the charges against Feliciano represents a significant victory for the pro-inde pendence forces in Puerto Rico because of the implicit recognition that Puerto Ricans cannot be forced to serve in the armed forces of the United States, thus bringing the legal status of Puerto Rico into question.

In fact, the "commonwealth" status of Puerto Rico - which is neither a state nor independent - was the basis upon which Chief U.S. District Judge Hiram Cancio decided on Jan. 23 to reduce Feliciano's one year sentence to a one hour sentence. Cancio was also the judge who originally handed down the one year sentence.

But Feliciano, who is being represented by the law firm of Rabinowitz, Boudin and Standard, chose to continue the appeal process.  
 
April 28, 1945
May Day in Europe this year, unlike previous May Days during the present war, has approached to the accompaniment of growing mass rebellion of the war-tortured peoples.

In Germany and France, the two leading capitalist countries, the workers are beginning to rise against capitalism and assert once more their determination to end the system which plunged them into the insane holocaust of misery and death.

On April 20, the Luxembourg radio reported that Germany was torn by civil war marked by "gigantic peace demonstrations" in Berlin and Munich. "Berlin is burning with unrest, civil war is rife, on all building in the workers' district red flags have appeared".

Meanwhile, unrest is mounting in France. The General Federation of Labor's call for a general strike on May Day asks the workers to protest against the new increase in the price of bread, the inadequate wages, and the failure of the de Gaulle regime to carry out a real purge of fascist elements.  
 
 
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